Autumn
by detective-kidd
Summary: Emily Adams isn't your average senior at Cabot High School. Her secret is that she is actually Lilly Knightley, Drummer and Singer of Criss-Crossed. What she doesn't know is that her math teacher, Mr. Charlie Timble, has a secret of his own...R&R!
1. Chapter 1: Welcome To Mr Timble's Class

Chapter: 1

Welcome to Mr. Timble's Class

(Or What I Like to Call It, Hell)

Walking to third period on Wednesday, I was thinking of Shay's party that was coming up on Saturday and how excited I was for it. I haven't been free for a weekend for three months, and now I was finally able to actually have **_fun _**for once! But before I get to that, let me introduce myself. My name is Emily Adams and I go to Cabot High School in Cabot, Arkansas. I'm 18 years-old and I have dark blue eyes with short messy brown hair. I like to draw, play music, and joke around. I'm in the Art Club, the Music Club, and on the Volleyball team. Now, that's all I'm going to tell you about and the rest your just going to have to piece together because then I would be rambling on and on about how awesome I am- which I am- and I would be sounding all stuck-up and narcissist and 'look-at-me-and-my-awesomeness,-bow-down-to-me', which I think is really unappealing and shit, and I would just really hate to be one of those-

Off subject. Sorry.

Now, back on track, the reason I haven't been 'available' is that I've been working, and no, it's not one of the stupid part/time jobs that you find in ads in the newspaper or stapled to wooden poles and fences. I wish it were one of those, because my life would be a whole lot easier, but no, my life is not what one would call _normal_. The reason I say this is because... **I have a secret**. This secret is so huge that if anyone knew, my life would never be _normal_. But then again, it wouldn't be normal even _IF _that happened, but I mean even if it was normal, it would still be less normal.._er_.

Have I lost you yet? Sorry. Let me just cut to the chase.

I'm secretly Lilly Knightley, the Drummer for the new-uprising band, _Criss-Crossed_.

You shocked? Eh, don't be. It's not a big deal, really. It's just that if this secret is revealed, my whole life will be ruined. No pressure, _right_? And since this is supposed to be a 'hush-hush,-no-telly-anybody' secret, the only ones who know are my family...and my best friends... and the principal...and my manager. Not too many.

Now, back to my fantabulous school. Ah, Cabot High. It's actually a pretty nice lookin' school. It's a grayish-brownish brick-layered building with a white flat roof that has the entrance coming out more than the surrounding building. I was spacing out as I continued walking, not looking where I was going; someone just _had_ to open the door right in front of me. Did I mention that the doors at my school open _out_? Well, you can just guess what happened. _BAM!_ I actually heard the sound of my face slide off the wooden door and on to the floor.

"Owww…" I muttered.

"You know, Mrs. Adams, normal people use their hands to open doors, not their heads." the mature male voice said sarcastically towards me, as I looked up to see who it was.

It was my new, cool, not bad-looking math teacher, Mr. Charlie Timble, or as everyone else called him, "Mr. T."

Mr. Timble is a 21 year-old glasses-wearing math teacher with blue-grayish eyes and messy ebony black hair. This is his first year teaching here because our last math teacher, Mrs. Dunn, had a mental breakdown and went to the hospital. Don't worry; she's fine… (if she's tranquilized in a straight-jacket.)

'_You did that on purpose, didn't you?_' I thought as I glared at him. He just stared at me with that stupid smirk, so I sighed and walked into class.

"Yo, Em! Over here!" a male voice shouted.

"Yeah, Em, we saved you a seat! Right in the front, next to us 'cause we know you'd love it!" an identical male voice yelled.

It was 2 of my best friends, Aiden and Scotty Banks. Aiden and Scotty are almost-identical twins and the same age as me. They both have light-brown hair, but have different eye colors. Scotty has chocolate brown eyes, and is also a snowboarder, in the Music Club, and on the Soccer team. On the other hand, Aiden has sapphire-colored eyes, is also a snowboarder and in the Music Club, but he's on the Basketball team. I swear they are the devil's seed. I mean don't get me wrong; they're nice guys and all, but they just have way too much free time.

"Gee, thanks, guys." I thanked them sarcastically, as I sat down in the first seat in the middle row. Mr. T walked in just as the bell rang.

"Okay, class, let's begin." Mr. T started. "Now, today I will be teaching you about something that most of you have learned, but for _some _of you, it is something that will be new to you." He always says that when we are learning a new lesson, and he always stares at me when he says 'some.' He starts to write on the board and says as he writes, "Chapter 12: Lesson 1: Geometrical Figures." '_Oh how I love this class! It's like sunshine and rainbows with pretty flying unicorns running in a meadow filled with talking daisies._'

I stopped thinking for a second. '_What the hell? Did I just seriously think that?_' Now I know that thinking too much will hurt your brain.

Mr. T slammed his hands on the desk, scaring the flying crap out of me as he shouted, "Miss Adams! Would you like to answer the problem or drift off into 'La-La-Land'?" I opened my mouth to answer. "Don't answer that." I closed my mouth. I could hear the twins laughing it up next to me along with the rest of the class.

"Shut up…" I whispered to the twins. They laughed even harder.

"What were you thinking about this time, Spongebob?" Aiden managed to snicker out.

"Or was it about Mr. T?" Scotty whispered with a very wide smile.

I looked at those things I call my best friends oddly. "Actually it was how I love math class and compared it with sunshines, rainbows, and flying unicorns running in a meadow filled with talking daisies." I said with my head on my desk, lifting up my head up only enough for them to hear me. They stopped laughing, so I looked up and saw their expressions.

"Emily, we're worried about you." Aiden puts his hand on my shoulder, in an adult-like manner.

"Yes, Emily, we are concerned for your health and welfare." Scotty said with a stern look.

I sighed. "Guys, do you even know what the word 'welfare' means?" I raised an eyebrow as I smirk at them. They paused and broke out with goofy smiles.

"Nope, but I doubt you know either!" Aiden and Scotty said together. We laughed at our stupidity. Of course, it is short lived.

"Mr. Banks, Miss Adams, Mr. Banks; Come get your 'Golden Ticket.'" Mr. T says, holding 3 'Golden Tickets.'

"Aw, sweet! We're going to Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory!" Aiden shouted out with glee. The whole class started laughing.

"No, stupid, it's a detention slip. You got to use that walnut-sized brain of yours more often," I stated with a smirk, tapping the side of my head. I watched Aiden's face drop and Scotty laugh at him.

"Shut up; it's not funny…"Aiden mumbled as he pouted.

"Seriously, bro, you should have seen that coming." Scotty laughed at his brother as Aiden stuck his tongue out at him. I chuckled at their childish antics.

"Ah-hem. You do know that we are still in class, correct?" Mr.T's voice echoed inside the class room, lightning appearing in the background as we stared in awe.

'_How does he do that?_' we wondered.

'_Oh- well_.' I thought.

The time passed in a blur; now it was lunch. Ah, lunch; oh, how I hate those evil lunch ladies. They are a pain especially when we, the students, don't eat what they, the lunch brigade, 'so lovingly' cooked for us, the students a.k.a. the victims.

The twins and I found our way to the lunchroom and got in line. I checked what was for lunch: Mystery Meat. Ugh. What the hell is that anyway? I'm gonna guess that it's what a hot pocket is made out of: a combination of nasty meat. I grimaced at the thought of hot pockets and how they make me ill.

We continued to move down the line and came to a stop in front of the evilest thing in Cabot: Edna the lunch lady- man- person. I'm just going to call it 'It.' I can't identify the gender of 'it' because 'it' looks like a lady, but 'it' has a mustache. 'It' looks down at me with a glare. I looked up and glared back. Edna took 'it's' ladle filled with what looked like to be green beans and plopped it down on my plate. Then, 'it' took the mystery meat and threw it right next to the unidentified mass of green blob. I looked down at the food then I looked at the lunch lad- ma- person. I walked out of the line, and threw it in the trashcan; I made sure 'it' saw me do so. It's pretty funny watching an adult blow their top.

"Man, Em, you just love doing that, don't you?" Aiden said while he and Scotty were chuckling at the lunch person.

"Are you accusing me of being merciless? Now, why would you so rudely blame an act of crime on lil' ol' me?" I said with an innocent face. The twins laughed at my antics as we walked towards our table.

There, we met up with the last two people in our little group.

The one on the left is Carly Dares. She is the same age as me with brown eyes and curly ebony hair. She is in the Art Club and on the Volleyball Team with me.

The one on the right is Shay Correl. She is also the same age as me with hazel eyes and straight Blonde hair. She is in the Art Club and on the Cheerleading Squad.

"So how was class with Mr. T?" Shay questioned us as we sat down.

"Yeah, did he pick on you again, Em?" Carly teased with a grin.

"Doesn't he always?" The twins chorused together as they grinned their 'special' grin at each other.

I glared at the twins.

"Thanks for the moral support, guys. I really appreciate it." I muttered under my breath. "By the way, why do you always bring that up when we just had his class? Do you just love to torment me or something?" I questioned.

"Well, best friends do teases each other, so it's not our fault."Carly shrugged.

"Yeah, thanks. Do you like pay him to target me or something?" I exclaimed with a joking demeanor.

"...No..."The other four said nervously in unison as they look away, whistling to themselves.

"I really feel the love from you guys. No, really. It's swelling around me. I feel it." I stated sarcastically, folding my arms together, putting my feet on the table, and crossing them.

"Are you comfortable?" A big, scary shadow asked, lurking behind me.

"Very. Thank-" I froze.

**Blink**. **Blink**. **Blink**.

I slowly turned around and was overcome by a smoke-induced cloud.

I started coughing like crazy. 'Oh my god. There's only one person I know that smokes this obsessively.'

"Miss Adams, care to take a stroll to my office?" Mr. Truman's voice boomed in my ears. He waved his hand in the direction of his office.

I slumped, sighed, and walked sluggishly towards his office. 'Great. Just beautiful. This week was supposed to be perfect. I was finally going to be able to go to a party. Way to go, Em. You really did it this time.'

I finally made my way to his office. I sat down and waited for him to come. I looked around and finally looked at my watch.

**1 minute. 2 minutes. 3 minutes. 4 minutes. 6 minutes.**

I start to tap my foot on the ground in boredom, and I was getting agitated. What is taking him so long? The lunchroom isn't that far away.

I watched the door waiting for him to come. '_Where the hell is King Kong?_'

**Blink**. Nothing so far.

**Blink. Blink. Blink.** Still nothing.

**Blink. Bli**- Ah! There's that blubber butt of a principal! He walked around his desk, and sat down, staying silent.

"Do you know why I called you down here?" He glared at me, hands entwined.

"Because I threw a smoke bomb in a plastic trash can and it caught on fire? Or was it when I closed the closed the school for a week when I impersonated your voice on the intercom saying that the school is having electrical problems, and that it could blow at any minute?" I guessed.

"What?" He exclaimed, seemingly appalled and astonished at the new information.

"Nothing." I said quickly, looking at the ceiling. Ha-ha, sucker.

He sighed and rubbed his head. "Emily, this is the fourth time this week. When will you stop disgracing the cafeteria by putting your feet on the tables? Other students have to eat there also, and they don't want to see the dirt from your shoes."

I huffed and stayed silent. '_Why is he always on my case_?'

"I have no choice, Emily. I'm going to have to give you a detention. You will report to school Saturday morning at 9 A.M. sharp. Your dismissed."

"But Principal Truman I have a 'thing' to go to on the day!" He knew I was referring to my alter ego job.

He gave me a 'no-shit,-sherlock' look. "I am well aware. That's why I said 'A.M.' Now go. I have other important business to attend to..." He finished, waving his hand back and forth towards the door.

I dropped my head, hunched over, and walked slowly out the door. As I left walked out the door, I heard a loud snoring coming from his office. I rolled my eyes. Important business, my ass. I continued to make my way towards the cafeteria and sat down at my usual chair where the rest of the my group of friends were still sitting there, waiting for an answer from me about what happened with the principal. The four other seniors just stared at me. Half a second later, the bell rang. I sigh, still feeling frustrated, got up and silently, walked to my Homeroom. The four seniors were still so confused.

After Homeroom, I started to walked to my next class, which happened to be my favorite class, Music. I started to head off towards it, but suddenly I ran into what felt like a brick wall and was on the ground in the middle of the busy hallway. I confusedly looked up and saw Mr. T looking down at me with the same confused expression I was wearing.

This look quickly turned into amusement as he remarked, "Quite the klutz, Miss Adams. I wouldn't want my favorite pupil to get injured, now would I?"

I know it sounds strange, but I think he wanted something. I was befuddled by his comment. It was awfully cryptic. I retorted back," Um...thank you..., Mr. T, but why would that be?"

For a second, he had a gleam in his eye, and then, in a flash, it was gone. "Well, I wouldn't want my 'special' student to get hurt because of me, hmm?"

I glared at him for a second when he called me 'special.' "Right, right…"I mumbled."Well, I gotta go or I'll be late for class. Bye!" I said, quickly trying to run off to my next class, but was pulled back by my collar.

"Not so fast, Miss Adams. I need you to do me a small favor." He said with his sugar-coated voice and his fingers pinched together, indicating his "small favor". Oh, no. There's that evil glint in his eyes again. "You see, last night, I went to Office Depot to copy the class' test because I just knew how much you all wanted to take it-" After that, all I heard was 'blah, blah, blah' and that's where he lost me.

I stopped for a second and thought about what he said. I didn't know teachers had normal things to do outside of school. Then I remembered seeing Mr. Truman in spandex at the swim club. I shuddered at the memory, that horrible dreadful memory. It will scar me for life. I suddenly blurted out what I was thinking. "I didn't know teachers had lives." I instantly covered my mouth, and mentally cursed. I'm screwed.

He stopped talking and I saw his eye start to twitch. I swear I would have thought he would have bitten off my head. He bitter-sweetly said as he clenched my collar tighter, "You'd be surprised about what we teachers do outside these halls." The way he said it was just so mysterious, making me want to know more about what he does in his off-school time. "Anyways, follow me."

"Wait, but-" I stammered.

He cut me off with a smirk and said," You can skip class. I'll write you a note saying you were assisting me."

I stopped listening after 'skip class' and he knew he had me hook, line, and sinker. _'He doesn't seem that bad anymore._ _I can't remember why I hated him_.' I sighed and followed him like a lost puppy towards the parking lot. We weaved our way to the end of the parking lot. I looked up and my mouth opened in awe and amazement as I saw his car. _'Hmm. Mercedes Benz SLR McLaren Roadster. Nice.'_ I was deeply impressed. "I didn't know that he could afford it with a teacher's salary." There goes my big mouth again.

I saw Mr. T's face twitch again. "I won it on a radio show." He then turned around and saw the expression on my face. "Pick up your jaw, Miss Adams. I need your hands." He said with little irritation as he pushed my mouth up to close it. "Now, this will take at least 20 trips, so... get to it." He said, patting me on the back and quickly retreated back inside before I could protest.

'_I now remember why I hate him so much.' _I thought, glaring at where he used to be standing. '_manipulative bastard.._.' "Well," I said to no one in particular, "better get this over with." I grabbed the first box. Scratch that. I tried to grab the first box, but I couldn't seem to actually get it off the bottom of his car. I stopped for a second, feeling an eerie aura. 'Why do I feel like someone is spying on me?' I quickly turned around to see nothing. '_My God, I'm paranoid._'

I was struggling and straining with the heavy load; it was killing me. All of a sudden, I feel a tap on my shoulders. I jumped up and turned around, about to knock the living daylights out of the stranger when I recognized his face and his voice.

"Hey, put your arms down, slugger." He said teasingly. "You look happy to see me. You need help there, Adams?" He smirked at me as I crossed my arms.

"Humph. Maybe. You willing to help, Collins?" I replied. Yeah, that's right. I'm talking to the town bad boy/rebel, Jeffery Collins. The rumors say he's so bad that he has a criminal record. They also say he isn't scared of anyone or anything, which I know is not true. He's actually scared of London Jacobs and turtles, which I think is just hilarious, so I tease him like crazy about it!

"Well, I'll have to look at my little black book to see if I'm free. I have a class ditching appointment at 1:15 and a nap at 2, so..." I jokingly hit him on his shoulder as he pretends to thumb through the pages of his invisible schedule.

"Oh, just help me out, you jerk." I said, putting the heavy boxes in his hands. It went a lot fast with two people instead of one. We finished ten minutes later with a lot of class time left. Then I just realized something. "That lazy, good-for-nothing bastard! He never gave me a note for class!" I shouted my thoughts aloud.

"Hey, I was planning on skipping the rest of school, so just come with me." He held out his hand to me and I grab it.

"Eh, why not? It's not like Gym is important." I shrugged as we ran to his car and he drove towards the ice cream parlor, FROZEN FRENZY.

When we got there, there was hardly anyone there, mostly because people were still in school. We sat down in the booth next to the window and looked at the menus.

"Hmm...I'm thinking about getting Cookies 'n Cream, but I also like Bunny Tracks..." I voiced out.

"I have the same problem. Rocky Road is a classic, but Caramel Delight is just as good." Jeffery said seriously.

"Well, I think I'll decide to go with...BUNNY TRACKS!" I stated confidently, as if my answer would win me a million dollars as I closing the menu.

"Then I'll think I'll take Rocky Road."He said calmly, placing the menu on the table.

"Psssh, you're only choosing Rocky Road to be manly." I said to him.

He hesitated. Haa, I got him. "N-no, I just like Rocky Road."

"Uh-huh. Whatever helps you sleep at night." I replied, grinning widely. I then shouted out," Yo! Paulie! Get us the usual!"

Paul "Paulie" Samson, the proud owner of the FROZEN FRENZY, yelled back," You got it, Adams!" He headed towards the back to make our ice creams. Paulie built the place when I was little and I have come here ever since. I'm his best and loyal customer.

"So, Adams, what should we do to pass the time?" Jeffery asked, leaning back in the booth.

"Why are you asking me? You come up with something!" I retorted.

He started to think, rubbing his chin with his hand. He then shot up with his hand pointing in the air. "I got it! Why don't we talk about the funniest thing that has ever happened to us!"

I looked at him. "It took you that long to come up with that?"

"Well, would you rather talk about your feelings?" He replied.

"NO! No,no,no,no,no,no. That's fine. So why don't you start us off?" I implied, wanting to quickly get off that subject.

"Well...um...Ah! When I was little, I used to think that the car was magical and that only the earth was moving." Jeffery said sheepishly.

I laughed at him. "Wow, really? Well when I was little, I was playing outside, when my dad called me because he made cookies. I ran so fast towards the door inside, but I forgot that we have a clear glass door. I ran face first into it with a bang and bounced off of the door. My dad rushed outside and saw me with a completely red face. He then started laughing and pointing at me. He still reminds me of that incident." I told him.

"Wow, that is pretty cruel. It reminds me of this thing I saw the other day. It was the most cruelest commercial towards kids I'd ever seen. It was back to school time and the song, "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year", was playing while a dad and his two kids were looking for school supplies. The dad is like, doing synchronized swimming up and down the aisles with a shopping cart, only that it's on land, while the kids looked mortified."

"My God, you're right! What are they trying to do to us poor children!" I faked gasped.

We then started to laugh at our actions when a shady-looking man approached us, but we didn't stop laughing. "What's so funny that you had to skip school for?" A familiar male voice questioned.

"Well, you see, Jeffery told me about a commercial that had-"I stopped and opened my eyes to see, in all of his mean glory, Mr. Timbles wearing a deep scowl. Man, I got to learn how to not tell the truth.

"Now, why do you think that I'm pissed off beyond reason, Miss Adams?" He bellowed out while I shrunk in my seat.

"Um... well..." I stuttered out but was interrupted by Jeffery.

"It's not her fault because you didn't give her a pass to go back to class." Jeffery defended. My Savior!

"Well, if she waited where she was or if she came to see me, then I would have given it to her!" Mr. Timble argued back.

"If you told her to do so, then she wouldn't have left." Jeffery retorted.

"Well, if she used her brain every once in a while, she would've thought of it for herself!" Mr. Timble yelled.

At this point, I was looking from one guy to the other and my head was hurting. I quietly got up from my seat, took the ice cream from Paulie's hands with a finger on my mouth, telling him to not tell them, and snuck out, running with my ice cream in hand. '_That was the best escape I've ever done.'_ I thought to myself as I walked home licking my ice cream cone with glee. Those guys are suckers.


	2. Chapter 2: Meet the Wackos

Chapter 2:

Meet the Band

(a.k.a. The Wackos)

A woman named Molly clapped her hands in satisfaction at our successful practice today. "Great job, everybody. Okay, guys, take 20." She announced to the group during rehearsal. Molly Parkens is the manager of our band, Criss-Crossed. She handles everything we do from gigs to interviews to charities. We depend on her, I more than others because she knows my secret.

"Keep up the good work, Lilly. It really shows." Molly told me as she walked out of the room. Yeah, by the way, I'm now my alter-ego, Lilly Knightley. I haven't even told my band mates about my double life. I know, I know, I'm a terrible person and karma will bit me in the ass one day, but until then, oh well. I am currently at our recording studio on a Thursday night doing some rehearsals for our charity performance.

"You're doing great,Lils! I mean that drum solo when you throwing your drumsticks in the air was awesome!" Michelle exclaimed with excitement. Michelle Bigby is our back-up singer, but she is a real sweetheart.

"Yeah, short stuff, you're amazing on the drums. It's like you were born with them!" Tyson said with a teasing smile. Tyson Campbell is our bass guitarist and my prank buddy. We do all sorts of stuff when we have time.

"Oh,stop. You guys are awesome too. I mean, come on Michelle, you have a killer voice. It's like totally wicked! And you, Tyson! You can play the rockenest chords I've ever heard!"I exclaimed while jumping up and down."Hey. I heard that it's your three month anniversary! Congrats you two!" I forgot to mention that Tyson and Michelle are dating and are totally in love.

They blushed at my remark. "Thanks, Lils. We are excited and happy, but surprised that we are still together!" They hugged each other and gave each other those couple kind of kisses.

"Ewwie! You guys need to get a room!" I laughed, fake gagging. They laughed at my reactions.

"Stop fooling around. We have work to do." A voice said behind me as I jumped and hid behind Michelle. I peeked from behind her and saw Criss. Yeah, that's Criss Taylors for ya'. He is our lead singer and guitarist. We don't know that much about him, but I swear he has a 2 foot pole stuck up his ass.

I mimicked him behind his back making hand gestures. Michelle and Tyson were holding in their laughter. "Lilly, I know what you're doing, so stop it." I froze. Crap, I was caught. "Well, you gotta learn how to loosen up, Criss. You're so uptight! Live a little!"I exclaimed with enthusiasm.

He gave me a look. "I would never do anything you suggest, Miss 'No Worries', because I, unlike you, worked hard to get this far and have far too much work to do to just sit and do nothing!" Criss stated angrily, walking down the hall and slamming the door to his room.

"What's got his panties in a bunch?" I asked Michelle and Tyson.

"I heard that he's been depressed about his break-up with his stuck-up girlfriend, Tonya, and how she left him for that slime ball, Danny Galatas." Tyson replied.

Tonya Rivers is an actress who used to be in our music videos until she hit it big. She and Criss used to date, but she cheated on him with a jerk face.

Danny Galatas, a.k.a. the jerk face, used to be the drummer for _Criss-Crossed_, but is now the lead singer of our rival band, _Yellow Stripes_. From what I heard, he and Criss never got along because Criss wouldn't let him change the name of the band, causing him to quit. I never met him because I was his replacement. He still hates Criss and stole his girlfriend to prove that he was always better than Criss.

"Well, I heard that he's been having nightmares about when he was little. I sometimes hear him groaning and crying in his sleep when we're touring."Michelle said.

I contemplated what they said. 'Is he really in that much pain? Does he need someone to listen to him? Why doesn't he just ask one of us?' While I pondered this, Criss walked back out behind me and tapped me on the shoulder. I snapped out of my thoughts and turned around to face him, when I noticed a speck of sadness in his eyes. It makes me feel really bad about the way I treat him.

"Hey, look, I'm sorry about earlier. It's just that I have a lot going on right now and I'm really stressed out." He apologized.

I cut him off."No, no. I've been acting like a little kid and I should have considered your feelings, so I'm sorry."

"Well, how about we both apologize and forget about this?" He offered.

"That sounds like a plan. Hey! Why don't you come hang out with us after rehearsal? It'll be fun!"

"Well, I don't know-"

"You're going." I stated.

"Wait! I didn't-"

"No. You're going."

He sighed. "Fine. I'll come."

"Great! I knew I could persuade you!" I said full of glee.

He looked at me with a look that said 'you've-gone-mental.'

Just as I was about to say something back, Molly came in. "Okay everyone! Break's over! Back to work!"

"All right, I'll see everyone back here tomorrow same place, same time! Now get out of here!" Molly shouted.

"Well, that was fun." I heard Tyson say as I lifted my bag of essentials off of the floor.

"Yeah. I know what you mean. Well, at least she didn't throw a shoe at us like last time."Michelle replied.

"And now we know not to make fun of her hair." I laughed.

"All right! Are you guys all set to go out to eat?" I questioned while packing my extra set of clothes. When I didn't get an answer, I looked up and saw them rubbing their necks with guilty faces.

"Wait, what are you guys not telling me?" I asked, feeling suspicious.

"Well, we were going to have our three month anniversary dinner tonight after rehearsal. Sorry." Tyson said, feeling guilty.

"You could've told me this earlier before I told Criss that all of us were gonna hang out! What am I gonna do now?"

"You're not going to cancel on him! Did you see the look on his face when you said that he could hang out with us? He was actually happy!" Michelle said.

"I know, I know. Well I hope you two are happy about ditching me!" I stuck my tongue out at them as they smiled at each other.

I waved to them as they walked out of the building. I then went back inside to get Criss. "Hey Criss! Hurry up! The diner might close soon!" I yelled, knocking on his door.

He walked out quietly and locked the door behind him. He looked left, then right, and then questioned," Hey where is Michelle and Tyson?"

"They went out for their three month anniversary. So it's just me and you, buddy." I said with a smile.

I think I saw him go stiff at my response. He said nervously," Oh r-really? W-well that's okay. We can just do it another day." I saw the same sadness in his eyes.

I panicked."NO! No, no. It's okay. We can still go out, just the two of us."

"Oh. Okay, sure."He replied, feeling awkward.

"Yeah...Let's put on our disguises and let's go!" I said, dragging him outside the building while putting on our disguises and towards the diner. I walked into the diner and waved to the man behind the counter. I walked towards my favorite booth and threw Criss into the other side. He looked a little dazed at what I did."So what do you wanna eat?"I smiled brightly at him.

"Um.. whatever you want. I don't care." He said with a shrugged.

"Well, Hey Marty! get me two of the usuals!" I yelled all of a sudden, surprising Criss and making him jump back a little.

"So, how are you?"I asked innocently.

"Um... good?" He said, confused.

"Great!" I said smiling widely.

I opened my mouth to continue on in our 'exhilarating' conversation, but it wasn't my voice that said, "Hey, Taylors, what is your sorry excuse for a singer butt doing here?" I turned around to see Danny Galatas draping his arm on Tonya Rivers and his band _Yellow Stripes_ behind him, incognito.

I then started mentally naming the members. Jennifer Shields is the back-up singer for _Yellow Stripes_. She is a very jealous and possessive woman, if you can even call her that. She won't stop until she gets want she wants.

Alyx Larson is the bass guitarist for _Yellow Stripes_.

Nick Miles is the drummer for _Yellow Stripes_.

I turned back to face Criss and Criss went stiff at seeing Tonya, but was glaring at Danny.

"What do you want, Galatas?"Criss spat out.

"Is that a way to treat your 'best friend'?" He said with mock-hurt.

"You know the answer to that."

"Well, now no need to be hostile." Danny replied.

"You never answered my question." Criss said, narrowing his eyes.

"Well you never answered mine." Danny said grinning evilly.

"Come on Danny-baby. I want a milkshake."Tonya said with a nasally voice while tugging on Danny's arm.

"Hold on, bitch. I'm not done yet." He snapped at her. Tonya shrunk back holding onto his arm. Haa. Funny. "Anyways, I heard that you're doing a charity concert. That's pretty pathetic if that's the only gigs you can get."

I was getting annoyed at his cockiness, so I retorted," Well at least we're willingly doing it for a good cause and not using it for publicity like you camera hungry animals."

Danny turned from Criss and looked at me with interest. "Well, little missy, you're quite the hot head. I don't think I had the pleasure of meeting you before."He said, grabbing my hand and kissing it. "The name's Danny. Danny Galatas. And you are...?"

"About to hurl." I responded, quickly trying to take back my hand, but with no success. I started to freak out in my head 'Eww! My hand is infected with nasty things! Where's the Germ-X?!?!?' I regained my composure and glared at him straight in his face.

"Hmm, cute. You're very interesting...I've decided to make you my new girlfriend, but your name would be nice to know since I introduced myself to you."He said. I blinked. I don't believe my ears. Did he really just say that?

Tonya snapped her head at Danny. "Hey! You're with me! Not some cheap, lame whore like _her_!"She growled. Ugh. Bitch.

"Heh. Not anymore. We're through."Danny said brushing her off of his arm and pushing her away.

Tonya was shocked and walked out of the diner with her mouth ajared.

"Now, as I was saying, your name would be a nice thing for me to know." Danny said, as if that scene with Tonya never happened.

I looked back at him."If it'll make you happy-" I started.

"Oh, it will."

I glared at him even more for interrupting me. I continued. "My name's Lilly Knightley. I'm the drummer and that's all you need to know."

"So you're the girl who replaced me. I must say, you are much prettier than I thought you would be."He said, leaning closer towards me.

I backed away from him. "Flattery will get you nowhere, jerk face."

He laughed at me. "I see that I will need to impress you to get your attention."

I looked at him and then turned my head back to talk to Criss. "So, Criss, how's life treating 'ya?" I was trying to block out Danny.

Criss caught on to what I was doing. "Well, life has been mighty fine, except for this pain in the neck. I think his name was Donny Garbage."

"Hey...I was talking to you." Danny said, while trying to get our attention. Bastard. You got what you deserved.

"Yeah, I think that was his name. He is such jerk face."I replied back, smirking. Heh,heh. Man, this is good. I mentally laughed in my head as I saw his eye twitch and his face turn red with anger.

"Don't ignore me!" Danny yelled, grabbing my arm and spinning me around.

I glared at him. Who does he think he is, grabbing my arm like I'm his servant?!? "Oi! Let me go, you pansy!" I yelled, thrashing around in his arms to try to get free. Didn't work. I sighed. Great! Now I've gotten myself involved with some stupid celebrity drama and that's the kind I hate the most.

"I'm not a pansy. I'm a real man. You got it?"He said, looking me straight in the eyes.

I snorted. "Yeah, real gay." I heard Criss chuckle behind me. Danny froze and I took the chance to kick him in the shins to let me down and it worked. He bent over and grabbed his knee. I ran over to sit next to Criss, almost sitting on top of him to try to get farther away from Danny. I swear, I thought I saw the tiniest blush on Criss's face.

I jumped when he put his arm around me and said, "Just leave us alone, Galatas. We don't want you here while we're on our date."

I swung my head over to look at him, blinking uncontrollably when I heard the word 'date'. Did he just say what I think he just said? When I finally came out of my stupor, I gave him a look that said 'you-will-tell-me-later.' He nodded.

We turned back to face Danny who had a shocked expression. " I-I-I never thought that you c-could bounce back that f-fast..."He stuttered out, but then returned to his old, cocky self."Heh. Another challenge for me to win. I accept, Taylors. Your girl will soon be mine."He quickly grabbed my hand, kissed it before I could stop him, and left with his band trailing behind him.

I turned back to talk to Criss, but stopped. He looked like he was about to kill Danny. I knocked out of his anger."Hey, you mind telling me why you said we were on a date?!?!"

He looked at me amusingly as he put his arm behind his head. "Well, technically we sort of are. It's a 'friend' date."

I was fuming at his response. "Well, technically you could've mentioned that you thought we had a date!"

He shrugged. "Well technically you could've asked."

"Well, technically you could've asked me just to make sure!"

He rose from his spot. "Well, technically you could've told me again to make sure I got it!"

"Well, technically you should've already known!"

"Well, technically you should've thought I just might like you!" He yelled.

"Well, technically yo-" I paused. "Wait, what?" Did he just say what I thought he said... again?

"I said well technically you should've thought that I just might like you as a friend!" He said quickly.

"Oh...I'm sorry. I didn't take your feelings into consideration." I apologized to him.

"Thank you." He said slowly.

We stood up and we spilt the bill. I was about to leave when he grabbed my arm and pulled me into his arms for a hug. I was surprised but hugged him back. He needed a friend. I didn't notice that a man walked in and came behind me until he said, "Lilly, what are you doing?"

I spun around to see my older brother, Dylan Adams who is disguised as my personal bodyguard, with an annoyed look on his face.

I started laughing nervously. "Heh,heh. H-Hey Tommy." Tommy is his name when he's my bodyguard. "Wha-What are you doing here?" I said, trying to hide my bruise from him. Yeah,That didn't work.

"I just came to pic-" He stopped. Maybe he didn't see the bruise. "What the hell happened?" He said seriously, grabbing me from Criss and cradling me in his arms in a brotherly fashion. Yeah, luck just isn't on my side today.

"Umm... it was nothing ju-" He didn't let me finish as he put his hand to my mouth.

"I would've expected more from you, Criss." He glared at Criss with a newly found hatred. Criss tried to explain, but Tommy wouldn't and didn't listen. "Don't even. I'm never gonna trust you again. Come on, Lilly, we're leaving." He said, pulling me outside as I waved, mouthing an 'I'm-sorry' to a very confused and frightened Criss Taylors.

As you can see, my brother is very protective of me, especially with guys, mainly Criss. I sighed. I knew it was gonna be awkward during rehearsal tomorrow. But that's what you get when you're bad. Karma's a bitch.


	3. Chapter 3: Subs Are Not Always Awesome

Chapter 3:

Subs Are Not Always Awesome

My mom decided to drive me to school on Friday morning, even though I was perfectly capable of doing it myself. When I got out of the car, I asked her, "Who do you think you are, my mother?"

She gave a look that stated 'you seriously just asked that?' "I _AM_ your mother."

I cowarded at her deadly aura. "Right, right... heh heh heh... L-Love you too, m-mom, heh heh..." I hastily ran inside of the school to get away from her gaze. She can be real scary when she wants to. Walking into the school, I noticed I had 5 minutes to get to class. I panically dashed down the hall towards the gym, almost falling when I slid too far trying to turn at the corner of the hallway. I managed to fly in the gym, face first as if I was sliding for home plate. The bell rang and I saw Carly laughed at me. "Safe!"

I grinned at her. "Thanks for the fair call, blue." We started to chat about the most randomest things when we saw who the teacher was.

"All right, students." I stared in shock at the man standing in front of me." I will be your substitute today so pipe down and listen up. My name is Mr. Timble. Some of you may know me, "He somewhat glared at me," and some of you don't."

London interrupted him with her nasally voice, "Where's Coach Pingle? Don't you have a class of your own to teach?"

He semi-glared at London. "Your teacher was sick today, and he asked me to sub for him, so I said I would. I actually have the day off, now are you done questioning me?" He ended with an edge.

London looked like she peed her pants. I pointed it out to Carly and we silently laughed at her. Mr. T looked back at us and we immediately shut up.

"Now, since I have no idea what you all are doing in P.E., you all will be playing dodge ball! From the middle of the gym over towards the right is one team and the other half is the other team!" He yelled, looking thrilled to get away from us and get back to doing things we students don't know or think about.

Sweet. I love that game especially when London and Riley are on the other team. I turned towards Carly, "This is gonna be awesome!" I grinned evilly. She chuckled evilly with me, rubbing our hands together.

London and Riley looked at us weirdly. London puts her hands on her hips. "What are you freaks lookin' at?"

I frowned at what she called us. Who does she think she's messing with? I'm Lilly freaking Knightley for God's sake! Where's my backbone?!? "Hey! Who do you think you're messing with?!? I'm Lilly Knight-" Carly quickly covered my mouth. Mr. T looked up from his book, keen on listening to the interesting conversation.

I slapped my forehead. Ah, crap. I got carried away again, and this time, I almost just gave up my secret like that. Dylan would not be proud.

"S-S-She's L-Lilly Knightley's number one fan! Yeah! That's it..." She mumbled the last part. "She's gets a big head every now and then...Heh heh, but what can you do?" She laughed awkwardly while I glared at her for the 'big head' comment.

London didn't notice. "Well, I'm totally a bigger fan than her! Lilly Knightley sweated on my poster and I have it in a laminated protector cover!" She said, trying to brag.

I looked at Carly and we both shuddered. That's not admiration, that's obsessive compulsive, like the 'I love you so much, I wanna kill you so no one else can love you!' type. It's just plain creepy. It has been a dream of mine to not be killed by a rabid, psychopathic fan. I turned to look at and he was shuddering himself. I wonder why... ah, oh well. I'll figure it out later.

I turned towards Carly."You and Jeffery are like, my saviors!" I told her while hugging the life out of her.

She laughed. "Hey, it's no big deal. You need someone to make sure you don't screw up." She grinned at me while I stuck my tongue out at her. "Wait, Jeffery? As in Jeffery Collins? The big scary man at school?" She said, shocked.

"Yeah! He's awesome! And I think you two would make a perfect couple." I nudged her suggestively.

She blushed. "You know I can't. I'm already in a relationship." She answered sadly.

I frowned. Doesn't she see that the son of a bitch that she calls a boyfriend is abusing her? Everyone sees it. Why can't she? "You and I both know that what you and that Jack Benson have is nothing normal or safe. We're all worried about you." I said, putting my hand on her shoulder.

She recoiled, rubbing the spot where her new bruise was hidden. "He's just got some anger issues. He apologizes after."

"Yeah, after he beats you for something you didn't do. You should really break up with him."

Before she could say anything else, Mr. Timble blew the whistle. "All right, all right. Quiet down. Now, everyone split up to their assigned teams." We did as he said. "The rules are the same, but with a catch. The catch is that this ball," He held out the only green ball, " is the Magic Ball of Wonder." I snorted out loud at his statement. He gave me a quick glare and continued, " The Magic Ball of Wonder has the power to get out two players from the other team and bring back two players from your team. Is everybody ready?" We got into position. "On my count.1...Go!" He said quickly, getting out of the line of fire and dived into the bleachers.

And the war begun. Balls were flying from all directions at different speeds. After twenty minutes, there were about ten people left all together. London just got out when I thought of something. I 'accidentally' threw the ball at the back of her head and watched her fall in slow motion, face first. It's really funny how your voice is deep in slow-mo.

I quickly put on a fake worried expression, though I was laughing inwardly. "Oh my Gosh! Are you okay? I thought you were still in, so I was acting on a reflex! Sorry!" Well, not really, but she doesn't have to know that.

Her mouth dropped open and she retorted, "You liar! You're the one who got me out! Mr. Timble, you saw her do it, right?"

Mr. T just shrugged and said, " Now Miss Jacobs, it's very rude to accuse someone who didn't do anything on purpose. Miss Adams said she was sorry so there's nothing to lie about." He then got back to reading, but I saw that he was smirking.

I passed by Carly on the court. We did our secret handshake and laughed. Man, life was good. A few minutes later the bell rang. My team won with the score 5-0.

I started to walk to my next class. Biology. I groaned. Why does there have to be a class that you have to dissect animals in person?!? It's the Modern Age! We could just do it virtually without the guts and clean-up. Plus, it saves animals! Well, unless they're road kill, then they're goners. I've tried to explain this to my biology teacher, Mr. Brighton, whose not exactly the happiest, but he just wagged his old, saggy fingers at me and went on about his 'back in my day' lectures.

I reached my destination and saw Scotty already sitting in our usual spots. I waved to him and sat down next to him. I looked at the clock and saw that class didn't start for another five minutes. I turned back to face him. "You miss it in P.E. class. I got London good with a dodge ball on the back of her head and watched her fall face first in slow-mo."

He looked devastated for a second. "Aww, man! I missed it!" Then he broke out into a grin, "Do you think you could do that again?"

I shook my head. "Probably not. Mr. Timble was subbing for us and he knew I did it on purpose, but he let me get away with it."

He laughed. "Hey, he's been acting nicer towards you recently. I wonder why..." He scratched his chin as he looked at me.

"Hey! I'm not bribing him or anything so stop looking at me like that!" I answered, trying to defend myself. Shessh, where's the trust gone in this world? I changed the subject. "I hope Mr. Brighton and his seven chins isn't here today. I'm just not in the mood to deal with him and his speeches about his medication and how ungrateful us kids are."

"I agree. Last time, he went on and on about his broken hip and how he had to walk a mile to buy some bread when he was a 'youngin''." Scotty shuddered at the mere thought.

I laughed at him. "Oh, yeah."

The bell rang and as we took our seats, London and Riley walked through the door. I glared at London and Riley. London glared back and Riley gave me the 'how-you-doin'?' look. London saw it and slapped his arm while he flinched from it. I rolled my eyes. How stupid could he be that he would flirt with a girl when his girlfriend is right next to him? Apparently, pretty stupid.

I didn't even notice when a man walked into the class. "Hello, students. Most of you may know me, most of you don't... blah blah blah..." He mumbled. My eyes widened. No... It couldn't be... but it was. "I'm Mr. Timble, your sub." He said as he wrote his name and the assignment on the board.

"Miss Jacobs and Mr. Truman, you are late for class. That will be a detention." He said, handing them the 'golden ticket.' Ah, great. I'm gonna see them in detention on Saturday. I started to think. '_Oh,no! He's coming for me next! I know it!_'' I quickly hid my head between my arms on my desk so he wouldn't see me. I think he still wants revenge for me ditching him at the Frozen Frenzy. "Miss Adams, you can't hide from me. Now pick up your head off the desk and sit up straight." He commanded, still writing on the chalkboard.

"All right. Today, you all are going to do something that involves Biology." Scotty and I looked at each other. '_You've got to be kidding me..._' We thought telepathically.

Riley stupidly raised his hand. "Yo, teach? Yeah, um... we already like, know that this chemistry, so like, yeah..." This where the phrase 'no brain quarterback' comes from.

"Mr. Truman, This class is _biology_, not chemistry. Second, I have absolutely no idea what the hell you all are learning, so just do whatever he said you all would do next class." He said, snappily. Riley shrunk back into his seat. Scotty and I silently laughed at him. He just got schooled, ha! "Now, students, get to work." He commanded, sitting in his chair and putting his feet on the desk. We did as he said, not wanting to anger him.

Scotty got out his stuff for biology, stopped to think, and looked at me. "Hey, Em. What are we supposed to do?" He whispered.

"Anything. Mr. Brighton didn't give us anything because we were, and I quote, 'to irresponsible to comprehend the following day's assignment.' So just do anything. Plus, I have a feeling that you forgot to do most of your homework."

His eyes widened. " Shit! You're right! I forgot to do history and english!" I saw him quickly getting out his unfinished homework.

I shook my head at him. Will he ever learn? I started to look around the room for something to do, but found nothing. I then decided to just doodle for the rest of class. I was doodling up a storm when all of a sudden I felt something round and papery hit the back of my head. I stopped drawing for a second. I then chose to ignore it, which didn't exactly work because I was then pelted with a barrage of paper balls. I slowly turned around, seethingly towards the attacker. It was London smiling back evilly, her desk full of ammo. I glared darkly at her, but then I had a brilliantly idea. I turned around towards the front. When London was about to throw it, I cleared my throat which caught Mr. Timble's attention, which caught London in the act of throwing the paper ball at me as it bounced of my head.

"Miss Jacobs, you have another detention." He said, waving the 'golden ticket' in the air like it was a prize. I smirked as I saw her, defeatedly, walk up to get it and when she came back she gave me a nasty look which I just ignored. I sighed. I will never get tired of messing with her.

As the bell rang, I waved goodbye to Scotty as I walked to Mr. Whyte's class. I jumped up and down as I waved to Shay and Aiden, who were doing the same thing. They then started acting like a bird, moving their arms up and down as if they were flying. I giggled at them and started mooing like a cow. "Miss Adams, this is a class room, not a barn. You are also blocking the door, so could you please move out the way?" I jumped at Mr. T's voice and turned around to see him looming over me. My God, he's like a ninja.

"Oh, uh... sorry." I cautiously walked to my seat between Shay and Aiden. I whispered to them, "I swear he's stalking me."

They gave me a questioning look. "Who, Riley?" Shay replied.

I shook my head. "No! Is that all you can think about?"I asked her.

"...no..." She said, seemingly innocent, keyword, seemingly.

"Right... Anyways, I'm talking about ."

Aiden snorted. " Oh come on, Em! I think you're just acting paranoid."

"Am I? Am I really?" I asked. They looked at me. "Okay, maybe a little, but I'm telling you: he wants revenge! I ditched him and Jeffery at the Frozen Frenzy." They looked confused. "I'll tell you guys at lunch. Anyways, he's out to get me, man!" I said, holding on to Aiden's collar desperately.

"Whoa, Emmy. Just calm down. How are you even sure that he wants revenge?" Aiden replied, trying to detach me from his collar.

"Just look at him! He's acting all innocent." I said, pointing towards him. He just had to be pick up his glasses from the ground at that exact moment.

"Oh, yeah. He's secretly plotting to rule the world." Shay sarcastically replied.

"You know??!?!?" I said, not catching the sarcasm.

"Em, we're kidding." Shay replied.

"Oh."

"Yeah." Aiden added.

" Hey! Did you guys know that 'liar, liar, pants on fire' in Shakespearean English translates to 'teller of untruths; thy pantaloons have combusted?'" Shay informed us. We started crackling up laughing.

"Are you serious? That's awesome! Man, the things on the internet these days..." Aiden said, wiping a tear from his eyes from laughing too hard.

Mr. Timble coughed. "Now, if you could be so kind to turn your attention towards the board like a normal person would," He said looking at me, "we can get on with the day." Why does he always looking at me?!?! It's freaking me out!

English class went by in a flash and it was now lunch. I went to get my lunch and 'it' was there. The scene turned western and a dust ball flew behind me. I flexed my fingers by my hip as we circled each other. I quickly jumped for the only cupcake left as 'it' flew towards me with a scoop of mystery meat. I managed to grab the cupcake before 'it' slimed my lunch tray. I narrowed my eyes at 'it.'

I walked back to my table. "You lost again, didn't you?" Aiden said, trying not to laugh at my expression. It didn't work.

"I will win one day, and that day will be the shining light in the darkness of humanity!" I said heroically, standing one foot on the table and one foot on my chair with my hands on my hips.

They all snorted, and laughed at me. I sat back down and sulked. "You guys don't have to be so mean." I mumbled childishly.

"We're sorry, Emmy. We didn't mean to hurt your feelings." Carly replied, sympathetically patting me on the back. The others were sniggering behind her. I glared at them and stuck out my tongue.

"Miss Adams," I jumped again for the fifth time that day by the same voice, "if you keep sticking out your tongue like that," Mr. Timble smirked evilly, "I'm going to cut it off."

I hastily closed my mouth. He smirked again and walked off towards the teacher's lounge. I turned towards my friends as they stared. "Told ya' he was out to get me."

"Yeah, and you said you would explain why." Aiden replied. I then told them what happened at the Frozen Frenzy. " No wonder he's been following you around and popping up all day."

" Yeah, you got a death wish! Ha!" Scotty laughed at me. I pinched him. "Oww!" He rubbed his arm where I pinched him as I smiled in satisfaction.

"Well, don't mess with me, Den." I stated, using his nickname.

"Oh, it's like that, Ly?" He retorted back, using mine.

"It is. You wanna go? Let's go! Come on, I can take you!" I said, getting up in his face, about to get in our 'fake' fight.

"Where are we gonna go? Oh! I know! Let's go to Disneyworld!" He said, eyes getting all shiny with excitement.

"Oh my God, Yes!" We started getting hyper, while the rest of them shook their heads at us.

I heard Shay mutter, " Man, I wish they would actually get in a fight this time..." I made a face at her and laughed. The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. I turned towards Carly and Shay, beckoning them, "Come on, you two. We gotta get to Mrs. Goldie." They shook their heads at me, but followed. They knew I was happy about going to history because I was good in that class without even trying and because I could take a nap. Mrs. Goldman, 'Goldie' for short, is a very dreary and boring teacher. She can even put the principal to sleep. I sleep in her class because she doesn't even notice and because I'm her best student.

I happily walked into the class room with a pillow in my arms as I marched towards my desk. I sunk comfortably in my desk and laid my head on my pillow.

"Would you like me to get you a blanket and sing you a lullaby? Or maybe you prefer me to get you some milk and cookies?"The dreaded voice asked me in a soft, yet mocking way. I froze and looked up. And there, right in front of me with his arms crossed and that stupid smirk on his face, was Mr. T.

I groaned and put my head back into the pillow trying to block him out. I then realized that most of my attempts to get away from people never actually work. "Miss Adams, respect your classroom the way you treat your room."

"Throwing stuff on the ground?" I asked, raising my eyebrow.

"No. Take care of it." He stated, rubbing his temple from what I deduced was a headache. Well, it ain't my fault that he just so happened to STALK me all day!

"Stalker..." I mumbled under my breath. Yeah, he heard that. He's got bionic ears.

"Excuse me, but it isn't my fault that your teachers can't stand you." Okay, that was mean; talk about burned.

Finally, I was put out of my misery when the final bell rang. Then I was put back in my misery when I found out that my ride and my back-up ride bailed on me. "What do you mean you guys can't bring me?!?! You two said you could give me a ride home yesterday!" I yelled at Scotty and Aiden, who were backing up ever so slowly towards their car.

They shuttered. "What about your brother?" They questioned together.

"Who do you think wrecked my car?!?" I barked back.

"We're sorry Em, but we-" Scotty started, unlocking their car.

"-have to go to the doctor-" Aiden continued, reaching for the car door.

"-and the dentist today. " They said together, closing the doors and speeding off down the road.

"I hate those two..." I muttered to myself.

"You know," I was startled by that stupid same voice again, "it's unhealthy to talk to yourself."

"Well, it's perfectly fine when your ride home flakes out on you." I retorted back, turning to face Mr. T.

"Hmm... fair enough." He turned around and starting to walk in the parking lot. "Come, Miss Adams." He replied, walking towards his car.

"Why do I have to follow you?" I questioned, feeling suspicious about his demand.

"Well, supposedly I think you need a ride home." He said smirking at me, clicking his car so it was now unlocked.

I frowned. He was right. I ran after him and walked up to his car door. "Are you going to get in or are you going to just stand there?" He questioned with that same stupid smirk.

"It depends. Are you going to unlock the door or are you going to let me just freeze my ass off?" I replied back with my on smirk. He then started to think, pretending that he was actually thinking it over. I was getting a bit impatient at this. "COME ON, YOU OLD MAN! OPEN THE DOOR ALREADY!!!" He frowned at my remark and unlocked the door and letting me in. The first five minutes were in silence and my house was only twenty minutes away. I decided to break the ice to make the time fly by. "So, how old are you?"

He didn't answer at first and I thought he didn't hear me so I was about to say it again when he answered back. "I'm twenty-one."

I looked at him in utter shock. 'He's only twenty-one?!?!?! '_He should be in college!!!_' "If your twenty-one then shouldn't you be in college?"

He laughed at me. Wait, hold up. Rewind. Did he just laugh? '_The world has come to an end!!!! Quick! Save the women and children! All men, report to the army! Set off the nukes!'_ I finally came back to the real world from my mental apocalypse. He was giving me a strange look, but he ignored my behavior. "I'm what you call a genius. I graduated from college at sixteen and became a teacher at twenty."

"Oh...so why teaching?"

"I've always felt drawn towards school. Teaching was one of the things that didn't disappoint me." I sensed anguish, sadness, and hatred in his voice, but it was gone in a flash, replaced by amusement. "Why are you being so nosy? Are you coming on to me?" He smirked, giving me a quick look before he continued driving.

"I'm just curious-"I blushed and furiously shook my head, trying to defend myself from his teasing assault.

"I must say, I'm quite surprised that you are interested in me after you ran away with Mr. Collins."

"Well, I- wait, what?" I yelled, surprised.

"Yesterday at the Frozen Frenzy, before you left us arguing." He said on edge, locking the doors so I couldn't get out. I stared to hyperventilate in my head. '_Shit, shit, shit, shit..._' I said over and over, like a mantra. "Don't think that I forgot about that little trick you pulled on me, Miss Adams." He replied with a malicious look on his face.

I started laughing nervously, trying to phase through the door. Too bad I'm not a ghost. "Mr. T, heh heh... have I told you that that shirt is wicked?"

"No, but thank you. Now, back to your punishment, Miss Adams-" I cut him off.

"Emily." I stated blankly.

"What?" He questioned, a bit confused.

"Emily. Just Emily."

"Um...all right." He slowly replied. "As I was saying, you-" Once again, I stopped him in his tracks.

"And I'm going to call you Charlie." I grinned at his annoyed expression.

"Miss Ad-" I glared at him. "I mean Emily, it is very rude and inappropriate to call me by my first name."

"What's your point? I thought we were best friends, Char." I was having fun teasing him as he started to turn red.

"Of course we are," I hear sarcasm dripping from his voice. "and since we're best friends, we should tell each other our secrets and reasons we ditch each other, right?" I was saved when he pulled up in front of my house. '_Thank the heavens!_' I unlock the car door with as much speed I could muster and madly dashed towards my front door yelling out,

"Sorry! Gotta run! Catch ya' tomorrow!" I quickly shut the door, my heart thumping loudly in my chest. I clutched my heart. '_That was a close one. I thought I was a goner!_' I sighed; my heart beat finally calmed down and went to my room to take a nap. Today was just too hectic. I mean, come on! What the hell are the chances that I, unfortunately, spent the whole day with my teacher, who isn't that much older than me? I would have thought pretty slim, but then again what are the chances that I could live a double life? I guess I'm just very lucky at slim chances.

I then thought about my schedule for the rest of the night and remember about the press conference and interviews for _Criss-Crossed_. I sighed, knowing I wouldn't be able to sleep very long, if even a half hour. '_I wished it never took this long to get dressed with make-up applied._' I walked towards my bathroom with my wig in hand. Time to get ready for tonight's catastrophe.


	4. Chapter 4: Attack of the Press

I walked with my band towards the conference room. I sighed. '_Why do we have to go to these retarded things? They're not fun! Plus, I hate those damn stupid reporters breathing down our necks! I mean, come on! Can't they get a life?_' I looked around and saw that my band mates held the same expression I had. It made me laugh, inwardly of course. Who would laugh at nothing out loud and have people stare at them?... All right, I actually know some people who would *cough cough* Shay *cough cough.*

I finally snapped out of it when I heard my name being called out. I turned to face the voice and it was Criss. "Hey Lilly, are you okay? I've called your name five times already." He said, with _worry_ written all over his face? I scrunched up my face in confusion. _Worry_? Why? I then remember what happened at the diner the last time we two were alone. '_Right, right..._'

I decided to make Criss worry less. "Yeah, sorry; I spaced out a bit." I rubbed my head sheepishly. Out of the corner of my eyes I saw Tyson and Michelle arm in arm, raising their eyebrows at Criss and me. That technically said 'what happened after we left?' Great, now I got to explain this to them. I can just hear their nagging voices right now. I shuddered. Criss must have thought I was cold because he put his jacket over my shoulders making me blush a little at sudden act of kindness. This of course did not go unseen by the stupid paparazzi, who were now spazzing out with their flashing cameras and flailing arms with microphone galore!

"Criss! Criss! What is your relationship with Lilly Knightley?" Criss started to turn a little pink.

"Criss, I heard you two were seen together with her in your lap! Any comment of this?" Now he was turning red.

"Hey Criss! How about a kiss from the happy couple?" I swear I think he just invented a new color. He turned an even darker red, but who was I to judge? I was blushing myself.

I quickly stopped them in their tracks before they could continue. "We're not dating. We're just friends! Honestly! Ask Tyson and Michelle!" I said, waving and pointing at me and Criss's only hope.

They looked at each other and looked back. They shrugged. "Actually we have no clue where you guys stand." Tyson stated as Michelle nodded. Talk about your crash and burn scenario. And because of their answer to that stupid question that they DIDN'T NEED TO ANSWER, - 'Calm_ down, Em!_'' - me and Criss are left to fend for ourselves when the paparazzi pounced on us with even more embarrassing questions. Thanks guys. Thanks a lot.

'_We're screwed!_' I had a feeling Criss was thinking along the same line. We couldn't even breathe because right and left, microphones were being shoved into our faces, some got into my mouth and even in my nose! And let me tell 'ya: microphones are dangerous weapons and were invented by evil people to annoy me.

"OWWW!" I yelled painfully, clutching my nose which blood was starting seep from. Criss looked over at me and was next to my side in a flash, asking if I was okay and rubbing my back in a soothing way.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I hate those damn reporters." My voice didn't sound normal because I was clutching my nose so that the blood didn't come out.

Criss laughed at my squeaky voice. "I'm glad. So how do we get away from these pests?" He whispered the last part to me so that the paparazzi didn't hear us.

I pondered on the subject for a minute. 'Now where would they least expect us to go...AHA! The Frozen Frenzy! They'd never expect that!' A light bulb lit up in my brain as I told Criss my idea. "Yeah, I know of the place. How fast do you think we can get there?"

"Just give me a second..." I said, jumping up towards the crowd, I yelled out, "Look! A distraction!" And they were stupid enough to actually look!

"Run!" I mouthed to Criss and the rest of the band and we dashed out the door before the annoying, life-ruining hippies could follow us.

We were able to make it to the Frozen Frenzy in twenty minutes. Of course, though, we got stares from everybody because of who we are. I mean, who wouldn't?...Wait, my head just inflated for a second. We just ignored them and sat down at a booth. I finally laughed at what just happened. "I can't believe they fell for that!"

"I can't believe that their smart enough even work a camera!" Michelle uttered out, grabbing her gut from laughing to hard.

"Well, I can't believe it's not butter!" I hear Tyson's comment that caused us all to stop and stare.

"What?" We shouted at him.

"Tyson, I think you need to be tested." I said, patting him on the back in sympathy.

"NO! Michelle, honey, you don't think so, do you?" He said, desperately trying to get out of the situation.

Michelle just giggled at him. "Oh Ty, you're not _that_ stupid." She smiled at him warmheartedly.

"Thanks, love." He then realized a few seconds later that his girlfriend just called him stupid. This proves it. "Hey!" We laughed at his slowness.

"Oh, I'm just kidding. You know I love you." Michelle said, kissing him on the nose. Criss and I could tell they were about to get even more lovey dovey.

"EW! Ew! All right, break up the love fest here. You can do that behind closed doors, not out in the open, got it?" Criss said, blushing from what looked liked... embarrassment? I raised my eyebrow at him. 'Eh, I'll just let it go...for now...*cue evil laugh*' Yes, I'm a lunatic, don't judge me. Anyways, back to the real world.

"All right lets just order some stuff. I don't know about you guys, but all that running made me hungry!" Tyson exclaimed as we heard his stomach growl.

"My, God! Do you ever think about anything other than food and your girlfriend?" I questioned him.

"Um...Pie?" I think he was trying to save himself. He should know better. Plus, It just so happens that I'm immune to stupidity.

Criss shook his head at his obviously sad attempt to redeem himself. "You have food for a brain, which makes you brain-dead. I'm so sorry for your lost, Michelle. Tyson was a good man..." He said sarcastically, fake-sympathizing patting Michelle on her back.

"Hey! I'm food crazy, not dead!" He retorted pouting.

"Oh, you're such a child." Michelle said, walking towards her boyfriend to comfort him in his fake little tantrum.

"Okay, I'm actually going to order something this time. If any of you are going to join me, feel free to." I said. Criss followed me shortly who was followed by the two love birds in our band, who had their hands intertwined. We quickly ordered our food and chatted quietly to each other. It's very hard to be normal when you're famous.

"That was some awesome food!" Tyson said, rubbing his tummy in delight. "You always know the best places, Lil!"

"Dude, you would eat just about anything. Scratch that. You would INHALE just about everything." I replied. He was bound to find out the truth someday.

"Michelle!"He whined, acting like he was five, "She's being a meany head!"

I rolled my eyes. "Oh yes, I'm sorry for telling you the ugly truth. Sue me!" Tyson was opening his mouth to say something, but I cut him off. "Never mind." I heard Criss's snort behind me. I turned around to face him. "You got something to say there, pretty boy?"

"Oh, I've got plenty to say, but I don't think you can handle it." Criss taunted with a smirk. I've never realized how much I hated smirks until now, but who am I to say this? I do it too.

"Well, bring it on, man! I can take you!" I said, trying to egg him on. We then started to fake hit each other.

"Isn't that low, even for you, to hit a girl, Taylors?" Danny's mocking voice bellowed as he walked up to us, appearing out of nowhere.

"Are you stalking us or something?" I questioned, rhetorically.

He got into my face. "Maybe." He whispered. Ugh, personal bubble invaded! I guess he doesn't get rhetorical questions either.

"What do you want now, Galatas?" Criss sneered. "You want to steal our fame?"

"Oh, no," He said, acting all innocent, "That'll come in due time, my stupid friend." Criss snorted at the word friend. "In the mean time, I would love to just steal that pretty, little drummer of yours." He said quickly. I felt myself being yanked and pulled in his direction.

Criss grabbed my other arm and yanked it towards him. "As you can see, she is busy and doesn't want to hang out with you, so get lost."

Pull. Oww. "She didn't say that herself, so how would you know?"

Yank. My God! I think my arm's going to fall off! Criss fights back with, "She doesn't need to say it. It's written all over her face." What's written all over MY face is 'Lord, have mercy on my soul. I think I'm gonna die!'

And while they were playing tug-a-war with me like I was a rag doll, I looked over towards Michelle and Tyson and they were just staring, trying not to burst out with laughter. Gee, you would think that kind, sweet Michelle would help me out in a time like this, but I guess even she likes to see someone be tortured!

"Hey…" I said, trying to get their attention.

They didn't seem to hear me as they continued their banter. "Why don't you just give up, hot shot. You know you're not gonna' win." Danny said with a sardonic grin and pulled me. OWW! What the hell are these two trying to do? They're like a medieval torture device! I then thought that it reminded me of how they stretched taffy. I shuddered. I'd rather eat it, not be it!

"Hey." I voiced out again, but those two doorknobs were still being a bunch of toddlers fighting over the new shiny toy, which just had to be me. Oi, I need to get new friends.

"Who says you're winning, slime ball? Clearly, I'm doing so much better than you." Criss smirked, yanking me towards him. OOOOOOOOOWWWWWWW! OW! OW! OW! That does it!

"HEY!" I yelled over their rising voices. They shrunk down a bit at my outburst. "I'm not a toy, so would you two babies stop pulling on my limbs?"

"Sorry..." I heard them grumble out. These two are such a bunch of sissies.

"You better be! And if you ever decide to rip my limbs off again, I will make sure you will never be able to have children! YOU GOT IT?" My voice boomed.

"Yes, ma'am!" They whimpered, covering their "family treasures" and backing away from me. Haa, I'm awesome. Oh, wait. They didn't let go of my arms. Crap. Well, this is gonna' hurt.

"OWW!" I whined.

"Look what you did, Taylors! Stop hurting her so the two of us can go on a date!"

"Oh? Well, sorry to burst your bubble, Galatas, but that's all the time you've got if you want to make it out of here alive." Criss said pointing at screaming mob of fans the behind him.

Danny's eyes widened at the killer crowd speeding towards us. "Shit! I gotta go!" He grabbed my hand, kissed it, and with a smirk, said, "Until later, love." He then ran away from us, leaving me in a shocked stupor.

Twitch. Twitch, twitch.

Hmm. I think my brain just broke. When I finally got out of shock, I looked at Criss' expression. Yeah, he did NOT look happy. Na-ah, not one bit. I swear by the look on his face, I would have thought his head was gonna' explode.

"Who the HELL does he think he is, barging in here, acting like he owns the place and interrupting our double date!" He blurted out the last part. I raised my eyebrow at his statement. After realizing what he said, he quickly covered his mouth with his hand, his face blushing with embarrassment. "I...I...I mean, wow look at that shiny floor! Th-that's somethin' else, ain't it? J-Just wow!" His attempt to try to be less embarrassed was a complete epic fail. I mean seriously, a double date? Where did he get that idea? We were running for our lives from the paparazzi! It's not that I don't like him like that, I-I mean I kinda', but don't- aw forget it.

"I don't know which one of you lost it first, but ya'll are both nuts!" I exclaimed, talking about Criss and Danny. My god, those two will kill me one day. "And where did you get the idea that we were on a double date? We were running for our lives, dude! Did you not see the stampede of reporters on our tails?" I sighed. "Alright, whatever. I'm tired from this awkward day, so I'm going home." I stated, walking away from the trio.

I felt a tug on my elbow. "Lilly, I'll walk you home." Criss replied.

I then remembered that they're not supposed to know where I lived. "NO! heh heh, I mean, You can't. I'm only like, five minutes away, so it's not needed." I declined quickly. I then hauled ass towards my house before Criss could say anything.

I, now as Emily Adams, quickly got out the shower, immediately falling asleep as I hit the bed. And in that dream, if you can call it that,is when it got weird.

_Looking around me, I saw that I was at my old house that I used to live in when I was younger before we moved to Holly Grove. I then looked into the mirror and saw that I was in my 8 year-old body. I walked around the house, looking to see if anybody was home. _

"_Mom? Dad? Dylan? Are you all home?" _

_**-Nobody.-**_

_All of a sudden, I started to hear heavy, unfamiliar footsteps coming from downstairs. I knew it wasn't from anyone in my family, so I ran into my parent's room and hid in their closet. I felt like my heart was in my throat as I heard the footsteps get closer and closer. I held my breath, seeing the Shadow reach out for the closet door. It stopped and started to move away from the door. I let go of my breath, but I did it too soon and the Shadow came back and yanked the door open._

_**-Terrified.-**_

_**-Scared.-**_

_**-Petrified.-**_

'_I...I don't remember any of this.'_

_I could see the Shadow clearly now, but I know now that it was a man, standing tall above me, a satanic smirk on his face. He grabbed for me, but I quickly ran between his legs and out of the room. I ran down the stairs, but tripped on the way down. I tried to get back up, but my ankle hurt. I think I sprained it. The man ran at me, and before I could escape out the house, he punched me in the head, hard…everything turned black._

_..._

_...'Wait, the scene was changing. Why does this not seem familiar?'_

_Now I'm in a basement, chained to a wall. My entire body is pulsing in pain as I looked around, trying to see if this place was familiar. It wasn't. I cried, knowing that I probably wasn't gonna' see my family again. I had cuts and sores and bruises everywhere. Suddenly, I heard the door open and the Shadow Man walked down the stairs._

"_So, you're still moving, aren't ya'?"__I cowered in front of him, scared he was gonna' hit me right then and there. __"Well, I can fix that..."__He pulled out something from his pocket, but I couldn't see it in the dimly-lit room. He dragged it across my throat, I felt something wet on my neck. _

_**-Blood. -**_

_He then did another cut up my neck, making a cross. I started to feel dizzy and everything went black again._

_..._

_...'The scene is changing again. It's...it's...the scene is starting to become clearer to me, but then'..._

_**-Black.-**_

_I opened my eyes, feeling something crunch under my back. _

_**-Leaves.-**_

_I tried to get up, but everything just hurt too much. I put my hand to my throat; it was still bleeding. I was going to die. I was about to close my eyes forever, feeling very tired, when I noticed a boy, a 9 year-old little boy, kneeling, just a few feet away from me, crying. I grunted trying to get up, but fell over again. He stopped crying, noticed me trying to get up, and came over to help me up. I couldn't do anything as he put my head into his lap and started to wrap something around my neck. Thinking he was gonna' choke me, I started struggling._

"_Hey! Stop it! I'm trying to help you!"__ He said. I continued to struggle to get free, not believing a word he said. __"I'm trying to stop the bleeding."__I stopped flailing. He started to wrap the cloth around my neck again, this time without me struggling._

_I opened my mouth and tried to speak, but my throat was hurting. Still, I tried again, this time it worked, though it was raspy, __"Who are you? What do you want? Why are you helping me?" _

_He stopped me from saying anything else. "__Don't talk. My name is Charlie. Charlie -"__His last name came out distorted, so I didn't catch it._

"_Emily, Emily Adams." __I whispered out harshly. My lungs and throat felt like they were on fire._

_I stared at him as he continued to bandage my neck. He had dried mud all over his body, his hair with leaves and twigs sticking out everywhere. "__Where are we?" __I whispered out barely._

"_We're deep in the Red Forest that's at the edge of the river. It would take about 2 hours to get back to town." __He said quietly. After he finished bandaging my neck, we sat in silence, me absorbing in what had just happened and him just staring at the wet, muddy forest floor._

_I finally got the courage to ask him. __"Why are you here?"__I saw his shoulders tense up at the question._

_He didn't answer me back. I started to get up but stopped when he started to speak. __"My... my family... they just... just left me here, and right after my sister..."__He started shaking and I could hear him sniffling._

"_What? What did she do?"__I whispered, my voice still aching and burning._

"_...Right after she tried to kill me."__He whispered back, tears streaming down his face._

_I was shocked and appalled by what he just told me. How can his sister, no, his family, do something so hideous and cruel to their own child? __"Why...how could your family do this to you?" __I whispered back, coming out a bit raspier as my throat started hurting more and more._

"_...I don't know..."__He replied back, dropping his head in between his legs. "__I just don't know."_

"_Well...I'll be your friend, though it's not your family, but still...if you want..."__I replied. _

_He picked up his head from his legs and looked at me, tears still present in his sad eyes, but now they look hopeful. __"Really? Do you mean it?"_

_I smiled, though it probably didn't look pretty in the current state I'm in. __"Of course. We'll help each other."__I whispered. _

_He wiped his runny nose on his sleeve, and smiled at me. "__Yeah, I'd like that."_

_I then took off my bird necklace, and gave it to him. __"Here, I want you to have this and I want you never take it off. Just in case we split up, I'll know who you are." _

_He took it and then started to unhook his own necklace. __"Then I want to give you this, so I'll know where to find you." __I smile, tears reappearing in the corners of my eyes._

_I held out my hand and he to grab it. We walked hand-in-hand into the direction of the river._

'_Then...wait...the image...it's starting to fade away into something else...'_

_... Everything's going fuzzy...I'm starting to see flashing red lights, sirens blaring in the distance. All of a sudden, pictures are flashing different scenes, memories I have forgotten, horrifying, gruesome memories I wanted to forget, but I know couldn't._

I jolted out of bed, hyperventilating and covered in sweat. What the hell was that? I clutched my head in pain.

**-Those images. -**

How could I not remember something like that? 'Maybe Mom and Dad know something about this and can clue me in...' I thought. I looked at the clock.

**3:26 A.M.**

'I'll ask them in the morning I guess.' I got back into bed, still wide awake, knowing that I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep now. I sighed as I raked a hand through my hair. Why does this have to happen now? Life just has to be so cruel.


End file.
